As is known in the art, a cursor on a computer screen can be used to input commands into a computer. The cursor contains a hot point that indicates the location of the cursor itself. A user can input commands to move the cursor on the screen, thus moving the hot point, by using keyboard arrow keys or a pointing device such as a mouse or trackball.
By moving the cursor and placing the hot point on a particular portion of the screen, commands can be entered into the computer. For example, a computer may have a software program which includes pull-down menus. By placing the hot point of the cursor on a pull-down menu and actuating or "clicking" a switch or button, a menu is displayed on the screen from which a user may enter commands. Similarly, by placing the hot point of the cursor on an icon, file name, menu selection, or other object on the screen and clicking the button, a command can be entered to open or act upon a file or application program that is represented by the icon, file name, menu selection or other object. This method of command selection is commonly known as "point and click," and is commonly performed using computer pointing devices such as mice or trackballs. Overall, the point and dick method of command selection allows users to more easily operate computers.
A user, however, may have difficulty locating the cursor on certain computer screens. For example, high resolution cathode ray tube ("CRT") type screens are able to display a great amount of visual data or detail. The cursor may be difficult to visually locate on high resolution CRT screens because the cursor may be lost among various other objects concurrently displayed, particularly when the cursor is stationary on the screen. Additionally, many portable computers use liquid crystal type displays ("LCD") because LCDs are small, lightweight, and use little power. LCDs, however, have a slow response time between a user's input and a visual feedback to the user on the screen indicating movement of the cursor. Low lighting or insufficient screen contrast on LCDs make it difficult to locate the cursor on these screens. Furthermore, as the size of computer screens grow, a user's ability to rapidly locate the cursor on the screen, without moving the cursor, becomes more difficult.
Prior methods of locating the cursor on the screen generally involve moving the pointing device to thereby move the cursor on the screen and thus allowing the user to visually distinguish the moving object from all of the other objects concurrently displayed on the screen. However, this method of locating the cursor by moving it requires wasted motion and time, especially if the cursor had previously been positioned at a desired location on the screen, in which case, the cursor will subsequently have been moved from that position. Other prior art methods have been developed for more easily locating a moving cursor on an LCD type display, such as Japanese patent publication 2-90194. No method, however, has apparently been developed to help a user more easily visually locate a stationary cursor on a computer screen.